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Fantastic to see two Atlanta-based photographers appearing on Slate's photoblog "Behold" this week. First up is Maureen Ruddy Burkhart's work from Kibera, in Kenya.
And Michael R. Reese's work can be seen in The Whimsical World Inches Above Earth. Michael has an image from this series in a current exhibition curated by Amy Miller at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

We're pleased that David Rosenberg, who saw Maureen and Michael's work during the ACP Portfolio Review, chose to feature Michael and Maureen's work!

When we opened Google Analytics today, we noticed that astronauts on the Int'l Space Station were suddenly interested in a photography festival in Atlanta:
Vincent Laforet, who spoke during ACP 2010, posted yesterday that this week he'll be revealing "a piece of camera equipment that I think clearly deserves being called a 'game changer.'" Laforet swears this isn't an April Fools prank.
Any other great photoworld-related April Fools pranks out there?

"The TED conference, the California lecture series named for its roots in technology, entertainment and design, said on Tuesday that it planned to give its annual $100,000 prize for 2011 — awarded in the past to figures like Bill Clinton, Bono and the biologist E. O. Wilson — to the Parisian street artist known as J R, a shadowy figure who has made a name for himself by plastering colossal photographs in downtrodden neighborhoods around the world. The images usually extol local residents, to whom he has become a Robin Hood-like hero."

A 2008 addition to the list of movies about photography, "Everlasting Moments", is the story of a woman who wins a camera in a lottery. It's also the latest film to receive remastering from the Criterion Collection, and it's available June 29th. Check out Ebert's review.

If you're considering creating a photobook for this year's ACP Photobook Fair, here's a story about 10 photographers who shot their own books yesterday, as part of a collaborative project, including ACP 8 Lecture Series presenter Alec Soth.

"If you are interested in mass communication, then you have to stop thinking of yourself as a photographer. We live in a post-photographic world. If you are interested in photography, then you are interested in something — in terms of mass communication — that is past. I am interested in reaching as many people as possible."

"We are all interested in the outside world. The heart of every deed is a selfish one. If you have to go out in the world and be effective, you have to make sure you are alive, healthy and strong. Agencies have to make sure that they are financially viable in order to go out and make commentary on the world that is useful to other people. My point about not being a photographer is that we can’t protect photography – forget photography – when we are interested in the authentic representation of things outside of ourselves."

It's time for this week's Photolink Round-up, a smattering of photo-rich stories, posts and links from across the online spectrum!

The May 28th edition of On the Media re-aired "Snap Judgements", which investigates the ethics of photographic portraiture. The story includes a great interview with Platon, who'll be an ACP Lecture Series presenter later this year.

"To be quite honest, I'm often surprised that I'm allowed to carry on doing what I do every day. But I haven't been stopped yet, and I'm still waiting to be sent out of the country for bad photographic behavior."

"His only source of income comes from the occasional editorial commission, print sales and the books he publishes through his own imprint, Nobody, which he started in 2005. His website has become the key to his self-sufficiency. After the Haiti earthquake in January, he produced 100 prints from his Hackney Flowers series (a continuation of the Hackney Wick pictures) to raise money for the victims; within 15 hours of appearing on the website they had sold out. 'I could have sold 400 easily,’ he says. 'A great reminder of the power of photography.’"

The World Cup's in full-swing, which has sent a lot of photographers back to their archives to see what kinds of crowd-reaction shots they were photographing four years ago. Dean Dorat came up with this set, while PDN reports that Antonio Simoes had 35k dollars worth of gear stolen in South Africa last week.

Yay, it's time for this week's photolinks, a round-up of recent photo-posts across the online spectrum.

The New York Times looks to "style bloggers" for their their camera recommendations. Interesting, because they all prefer small point-and-shoots. (Doesn't everyone?)

If you used the late-great (pre-Bridge, pre-Lightroom, pre-Aperture) photo-organizer iView Media Pro, you'll know that they were eventually bought by Microsoft, and the product withered away or morphed into something new (depending on who you talk to). Here's recent news about Phase-One, who've picked-up the pieces.

No Caption Needed takes a look at natural disasters in Taiwan and Guatemala, both of which resulted in images that could lead to a whole new classification of photographs: straight, unaltered pictures that looked like they were Photoshopped.

Holly Johnson has a photo story on the fate of horses at horse auctions, called "Awaiting Fate". The photographs were made surreptitiously. A quick quote:

"Shortly after we got the horse back, I decided to go to the auction house he was sold at and record it with my camera. I hid my camera in my purse because they do not allow cameras due to the unhappy PETA members that often protest there. What I captured was several animals were dubbed useless because they are too old, too slow on the track, too expensive to keep, or injured."

Definitely visit NPR's PictureShow blog, which has a few recent posts on the history of yearbooks, and a look at Dennis Hopper as a photographer.

"Photography is an art for lazy people.” So said Robert Frank, the celebrated Swiss photographer, to Allen Ginsberg, the celebrated New Jersey poet, as they gathered in a Lower East Side flat to make a movie."

This is what it looks like when you take portraits of people who are upside down.

"Taken from a recently published book (by local Nazraeli Press) of the same title, "Greater Atlanta" is the third in a series of works exploring the American South, particularly parts of Georgia, where Steinmetz lives. Considered together, the books amount to a historical document of life in that region, gently celebrating the beater cars, fog-dappled gas stations and tousled-haired teenagers that inhabit a slouching but somehow beautifully barren landscape. "

"Photography’s central role is to be the absolute medium of the day. It is fantastic that there is no longer any technical intimidation. When I first started learning how to take photographs, you had to spend the first six months figuring out what an f-stop was. Now you just go and take pictures. Nobody thinks about technical issues anymore because cameras or camera phones take care of that automatically. On the other hand, you still have the option of controlling every technical aspect. It’s the most accessible, democratic medium available in the world. This has to be celebrated, and we must continually remind photographers of this."

TODAY, in Atlanta, you can buy groceries that will benefit arts along the Beltline: What: Atlanta BeltLine has been selected for "5% Day" at Whole Foods Market at Ponce de Leon, when Whole Foods will donate five percent of the day's net sales to support The BeltLine! The more you shop, the more you give! So BeltLine fans, grab a friend and grab your reusable shopping bags and head over to Whole Foods Market at Ponce de Leon on Wednesday, May 26th!
That's right, five percent of what you spend at Whole Foods Market at Ponce de Leon on our day will be donated to the BeltLine!
When: Wednesday, May 26, 8am - 10pm
Why: Funds generated from 5% Day for the BeltLine will be used to support Art on the BeltLine in the creation of visual arts, performing arts, and historic site interpretation in the BeltLine this May through October. Art on the BeltLine will draw thousands of residents in to the BeltLine corridor – including the section of the BeltLine directly behind the Whole Foods store on Ponce.
And Mary Ellen Mark talks about the summer of 1987 on americansuburbx.

"Let me tell you about my summer. In May, I worked on A Day in the Life of America. Then I went to Miami, and I shot an album cover for Don Johnston. After that, I spent three weeks in Hong Kong and a few days in Korea for the London Sunday Times Magazine. From there, I went to Carmel to teach a Friends of Photography workshop. I came back to New York, and the London Sunday Times called again. I flew to Hawaii for them to photograph Marcos. I came back to New York, and then I went to Aspen to teach another workshop. From there, I flew to Idaho to photograph a meeting for the Aryan Nations - an extreme right-wing group. After that, I taught in Maine for a week. I came back to New York and decided I was going to relax. But Life called, wanting me to go immediately to Pakistan, so I did. After that, I went to Toronto to work on a film."

Why make photographs of your own when the roving Google Street View Van can do it for you? There's a blog (of course!) of unique street views from Google Maps, called Apres Garde, and here's an interview with its creator. The photo below wasn't taken by Stephen Shore, it was taken by a robot.

A delicious idea for a photography show in DC at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, One Hour Photo, in which photographs will be projected for one hour and one hour only, never to be seen again. Bravo!

Similarly, Jason Lazarus is looking for photographs that are "too hard to keep". He'll keep them for you, apparently.